Smyrna times., 1887-02-16
Laura Bridgman.
DEAF, DUMB AND BLIND.

OEAfi DUMB AND BLIND,
l called the other day at one of the
cottages which make the girls depart
ment of the Perkins School for the
Blind in South Boston, and pretty
girl who is one of the teachers came
into the room with book in her hand
and remarked that she had "been read
ing to Laura" l knew that she re-
ferred to Laura Bridgman, and, think
ing Of the missing senses, asked
Pray, how do you read to her?"
"Oh," answered the teacher, "I spell
out the words in the deaf and dumb
alphabet with one hand, which Laura
grasps tightly with her hands, so :" and
the young lady extended her right
hand and spelled out the words as fast
as the letters could be called.
"What do you read to her ?" 1 asked.
Why, anything" was the answer.
This book is one of Hawthorne's. and
we read anything to her that you would
think of reading to anybody; fiction,
essays, poetry, history and all sorts of
books"
The teacher named a list of books
with which Laura was familiar that
showed her acquaintance with modern
literature to be far beyond that of most
women who have full possession of
their senses, and one so large as to GER
tainly astOnish me. finally asked ifI
| could see Laura, and was soon intro
duced to the woman who is by far the
most famous of all persons among the
defective classes" and the one whose
education marked great step in the
teaching of persons deprived of the
most necessary of the FIVE senses. She
met me much as any lady accustomed
to meeting strangers might, of course
with the difference that all conversation
had to be einterpreted through the finger
alphabet-a process necessarily slow,
but yet wonderfully rapid in the ex-
pertness of those who constantly prac-
tice it. But talking was difficult, and
after few commonplaces I took my
/ leave.
But the woman is we'll worth looking
at, as well as worth more than passing
thought. She is something over 60
years of age, tall and spare, full Of ner-
vOus action, and yet with the dignifed
! demeanOr of a refined woman, with
quick, eager face, and a remarkably
delicate and fnely-shaped head. The
eye sockets are kept covered with col
ored glasses. The story of her educa-
ton by DR.. Howe, when she came to
him a child with absolutely no sense of
seeing or hearing, and little if any of
taste or smell, has been told in a strik-
ing way by Dickens in his American
Notes." and is known everywhere.
As one sees her now, an intelligent,
well-infOrmed woman, respected and
beloved by those around her, and lead
ing, apart from the great lesson of her
life, by no means useless existence,
and certainly not an unhappy one, it is
almost impossible to realize how she
was walled in with only the sense of
touch left with which she could De com
municated with, and how everything
she knows has come to her through her
hands. Wonderful hands they are,
and even remarkable to look at, with
their delicacy and quickness, and
strange power of expression, such as is
ordinarily seen only in the face. Her
habit of choosing friends from the
brightest and most agreeable of people
around her is as strong as when she was
a child. 1t is easy to see that the pretty
teacher is prime favOrite, and asked
her a good many questions about this
woman's daily life. 1t may be re-
marked that she has home for life in
the institution by direction of DR..
Howe, and that she is the only deaf
and dumb person there.
"Who dresses her?" l asked the
teacher.
"She dresses herself" was the an
swer. "She does not make her own
clothes, but she dresses herself entirely,
and is very particular indeed about it,
and very neat. She gets up very early
the year round, and spends an hour in
the bathroom dressing herself. She
chooses the materials for her dresses,
and you would think her fairly fussy
about them. OF course all cOlors are
alike to her, and she wears black, but
she is very particular, indeed, about the
texture. 1t must be soft and smooth
to the touch. And she is rs curious as
any woman you ever saw about what
people around her wear. If any of us
have on anything new she will seem to
know it at once, and wants to examine
it carefully with her fingers, and then
express her approval or disapprOval,
mainly as the touch is agreeable or
otherwise"
"Does she take care of her own
room? ?"
"Oh, yes, indeed. She takes care OF
that and keeps it perfectly neat and in
order, and she always dusts the parlor
of the cottage"
How in the world can she do that?"
Why, she touches the tables and
shelves and then rubs her fingers
together to tell whether there is any
dust, and she handles all the ornaments
and knick-knacks with the greatest
care. She never breaks anything.
Then she makes little pieces of fancy
work which people who visit the insti-
tuition buy for sOuvenirs-little mats
crocheted in cOlOred wOrsteds and the
like. We tell her about the cOlors
once, and she makes no mistakes"
docs she make any sound with her
voice?"
"Yes, she makes little grooming
sound great deal. which sometimes
becomes loud. She likes to make the
noise, and would do it more, | dare
say, if she did not know that it is dis
oo,.oaohlo She laughs readily, and